Contrasts
by bradw316
Summary: Sakura wakes up in a darkened void, is shown what her heart is trying to help her with. One Shot


Contrasts

Sakura Haruno woke to find herself in a void, what confused her was she didn't remember how she got in this void. She heard giggling, it sounded like a woman's giggle turning she spotted an outline of a person, this outline depicted a woman with long hair and a slim body, "Watch," the woman stated softly gesturing to her right, Sakura turned and saw Sasuke Uchiha get impaled by over a dozen kunai and shirukens.

"Sasuke!" the rosette haired screamed running over to the young teen she reached down her heart heavy.

"Hmm, heartbroken," came the woman's voice. Sakura growled turning to the silhouette. "But not devastated."

"What's the difference?" Sakura asked tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Heartbroken while painful you can get over eventually and it doesn't affect you as much as you think. In a year or two you will over it and move on with your life," the woman in the shadows explained her voice kept getting softer almost as if she was going to regret what she was about to show.

However deep in her heart Sakura knew what the next image was going to show, "please don't," her tears already forming as she leapt to her feet trying to head off what was about to happen. Quickly slipping her gloves on she moved in the direction of the silhouetted figure cocking her hand back.

"I'm sorry, ya know," came a barely audible yet strange reply. "Watch," the woman whispered.

Sakura turned in mid stride seeing instead of a violent death like the Uchiha, she saw the last moments of an extraction seeing Naruto's limp form drop to the ground lifeless. While her heart had been heavy to see Sasuke murdered violently it was nothing compared to what happened the moment Naruto's life ended. Her heart shattered shaking her head from side to side as everything around her seemed to press in on her making it hard to breathe, "NOOO! Naruto!" she screamed running to him dropping next to him going through six handsigns and aquamarine chakra engulfed her hands placing them over his chest. "Please Naruto wake up, your suppose to be hokage," she cried even though she knew deep down this was an illusion and none of this is real just the idea of Naruto dead was something she couldn't fathom.

The woman spoke up sadly, "this is devastated, you're whole being utterly destroyed and leaving you empty, no longer whole. This is what true love does to a person when they lose something they didn't know they had."

Sakura hiccupped standing glaring at the woman as the two painful images vanished, her heart slowly returning to normal. "Why did you torture me like that!?"

The woman in the shadows seemed to rub at her own eyes, "It was a test."

"For what," Sakura growled for a second before she put her reactions in the test together. While she had been broken over Sasuke's death it was nothing compared to how she felt when Naruto had been killed her entire being died along with him. "Y-You were testing who I loved!"

"You have been confused about it almost since before Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru, in fact its bold to say you've been confused about this since before the Chunin exams, ya know," the woman explained again with the strange verbal ending.

_What a weird verbal tick, just like Naruto who is she?_ Sakura frowned slightly as she crossed her arms the images still in the back of her mind, shuddering ever so slightly remembering seeing Gaara lifeless on the ground in that bunker and replacing the 5th Kazekage with Naruto, feeling that cold numbing compressing feeling she got when she heard Naruto explained what happens when a Biju is removed from their Jinchuuriki, what's worse actually seeing the tail end of it. "I don't know what you're talking about," she huffed.

She heard the woman giggle again, "I was a lot like you in the academy, well at least in the fact people teased and bullied me about my hair. Only difference you got help from your friend Ino, I had to deal with the bullying on my own, ya know. It took one person to admire me for my worst traits that got me to fall for him, you ignored it, ya know."

"I-I did not, Sasuke-kun said he liked my forehead made him want to kiss it," Sakura shouted back.

"Didn't you think that was a little out of character for him?" the shadowed woman asked almost in a deadpanned voice.

This gave the rosette pause it did sound out of character, before that incident Sasuke never gave one inkling that he was remotely interested in any of his fangirls, what's more was the conversation that followed devoting it Sasuke asking her about why she found Naruto so annoying at the time. Then Sasuke left just before they kissed and him returning later back in character telling her that she was annoying. The whole incident left her confused for weeks afterward, more so because Naruto's attitude did a near one eighty like Naruto had taken what she said to Sasuke about him and tried to change himself. It was at that moment that realization struck the rosette haired teen and she could almost see the satisfied smile appear on the shadow woman's face. "A henge N-Naruto henged into Sasuke," the rosette haired teen whispered a part of her wanted to find her blonde haired teammate and strangle him while the second part wanted to cry. All the images of Naruto trying to better himself all because of a few key sentences she worded to him about himself that would make him more likable to her. _H-He spent nearly a year trying to better himself for both his benefit and the possibility that I would like him more._ Then the gravity of his promise hit her like a ton of explosive tags destroying a mountainside. The expression she missed but Shikamaru later telling her about, because of her tear filled plea. "W-W-What h-h-have I done?" the girl dropped to her knees her grief was only magnified by her remembering the fake confession.

"This can be fixed, ya know," the woman stepped out of the shadows revealing arguably the most beautiful woman Sakura had ever seen in her life.

"H-How?" Sakura asked between sobs.

"That's the easy part you've already said ya loved him, granted it was complete bullshit but you did blush. So you take it to the next level, find him kiss him until your both breathless and just say his kaasan approves, ya know," the woman stated with a distinct smile that match Naruto's to a tee. "Oh and that you're sorry, heard that works too, ya know."

XXX

Sakura shot up from her bunk looking around sweat dripping from her brow as her heart pounded in her chest. She jumped out of her bed putting her clothing on and running from her tent, she stopped along enough to ask Kakashi if he had seen Naruto. "He's making a report the Kage's right now, what's this all about Sakura?"

"Nothing really," the rosette practically ran for the huge Kage tent at the center of the encampment she opened the flap practically ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone there. Naruto stopped mid-sentence to turn which got the five Kage's attention.

"What is it, Sakura?" Tsunade asked as Naruto turned to Sakura ignored the question walking up to Naruto who looked across between panicked and downright scared shitless just before his rosette haired teammate lunged at him wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck pulling herself up to his height and locking her lips firmly onto his.

Everyone in the tent watched Naruto's arms seemed to spasm at the unexpected display for a few seconds not sure what to do before instinct took over wrapping his arms firmly around her waist pulling her in closer to deepen the kiss. Reactions varied from most, Tsunade gave a satisfied smirk, Gaara and Temari simply raised their eyebrows, Onoki snickered slightly, Mei swooned at the displayed and A just grunted mumbling about teenage hormones. When the two finally managed to come up for air Naruto looking daze and confused, "Not that I'm complaining or anything Sakura-chan but what was that all the sudden?"

"Not sure, just that your kaasan approves," Sakura stated causing most that knew Kushina Uzumaki in the room to look on in surprise. "And I'm sorry for every mean thing I've ever done to you," she then bopped him lightly on the head.

"And um that?" Naruto asked rubbing the new bump.

"For that Sasuke henge when we first became a team, you baka," the rosette stated watching him first think about it before he rubbed the back of his head looking sheepish. "For that you owe me lots and lots of dates, do I make myself clear," she gave him her patented wall eye glare.

Naruto snapped into a salute, "Yes Sakura-chan, believe it!" trying to keep a huge smile off his face.

Both heard A mumble under his breath about Naruto being whipped, "Good there's still a war to win, and I want my new boyfriend to kick ass," she then turned and bowing to the Kage. "Sorry for the interruption, master I'll be going back to the medical tent." With that she left.

XXX

Sakura slowly walked back to the medical tent her heart slowly returning to its normal beat as she reflected on her strange dream making her wonder if it was a dream and not some divine intervention that gave her the much needed kick in the butt she had been waiting for. The transition from Sakura the fangirl to Sakura the kunoichi was complete and with it heart now was beating for real love and not a phantom.

Author's Note: Another short one shot fic similar to the one I did earlier called Meeting his mom only this was a bit more prospective considering the amazing and scary parallels that Kushina and Sakura have. Which is why I think Naruto is mostly about parallels, each character in the series has a parallel version of themselves from the earlier generation. Obito and Naruto, Sakura and Kushina, it was their decisions that changed the direction of those individuals took. Seems every anime has this subtle formula, Full Metal Alchemist was more about a question of faith over science, Neon Genesis Evangelion was an exploration of the human mental condition, Bleach was a question about life and death, heck even Gundam asks the question about war and peace. Same can be said for your slice of life animes, watch one if you can, GRArkada gives several good references on his youtube channel.


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